


always on your way out

by mysongsknowhatyoudidinthedark



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: M/M, Mutual Pining, Road Trips, Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-20 16:18:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10666314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysongsknowhatyoudidinthedark/pseuds/mysongsknowhatyoudidinthedark
Summary: Between their sophomore and junior years, Nursey and Dex decide to travel together--California, with Chowder, Illinois, with Dex's grandmother, and New York, with Nursey's family. It's all cool because they're not fighting for once in their lives, until suddenly it's not.Nursey doesn't know if he can handle being cramped in a plane, car, or house with Dex all summer because Really Big Heavy Feelings decide to rear their ugly head, but this is what he signed up for.





	1. Chapter 1

Nursey’s never been so nervous to room with someone in his entire life. Sure, he and Dex have roomed together on roadies before, but it’s never been like this. Never for months on end with no moment of reprieve except in the summer months.

 

And it just so happens that they decided to spend the summer months together, too.

 

Dex claimed that he wanted to spend time with Nursey so they get all their fighting and bickering out of the way, but when Dex’s family car pulls up at JFK, Nursey’s heart inexplicably starts pounding in his chest, skipping beats and what-not.

 

It probably doesn’t help that they’re flying to visit Chowder and Farmer, who are both at Chowder’s house over by San Francisco. Chowder and Farmer--who are a couple.

 

Like, Nursey knew he thought Dex was nice-looking--he’s not blind--but this is a whole other level of awkward and weird and uncomfortable. There they were, standing at JFK International Airport, suitcases in tow, ready to board a flight to San Francisco.

 

“Hey,” Dex says as he walks up to greet him. Dex looks good, and he’s just wearing sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and sunglasses. Then they can’t seem to decide between a handshake and a hug, so they do a bit of both at the same time, and it’s as weird as it sounds.

 

“Be good, kiddo,” Dex’s dad says. He’s a burly man--not a redhead like Dex. Actually, Dex is the only redhead, save for Dex’s grandma on his dad’s side, but she’s gone gray like every other old person. His dad’s got brown hair and brown eyes, just like most Irish people who aren’t redheads.

 

Dex nods, a little bit uncomfortable, perhaps at the use of “kiddo,” perhaps at the fact that his dad is meeting this person that is the epitome of what their family typically despises.

 

“Nice seeing you, Mr. Poindexter.” The words come out strange leaving Nursey’s mouth, but whatever. He’s being polite, just like his mommas taught him.

 

“Nice seeing you, too, Derek.” Mr. Poindexter gives a curt nod and waves as they start making their way to the automatic doors. “Have fun, you two.”

 

“Where’re your moms?” Dex asks as they walk toward the kiosks that had their airline name above it.

 

“Both of them had work. They got an uber for me and sent me on my merry way,” Nursey answered. He tries not to sound too upset about it.

 

When they get to security, Derek tries to be the most perfect gentleman with the best manners--not disrespectful at all--and they still pull him aside for “random” testing.

 

“They do that every time?” Dex asks.

 

Nursey nods nonchalantly. “Almost every.”

 

“That’s stupid.”

 

He’s got his chill facade on, hoping Dex doesn’t notice how much it actually annoys and upsets him. “Yeah, well, c’est la vie. Not much I can do.”

 

“I should--”

 

“You wanna board the plane or not?”

 

Dex tightens his lips as they put their toiletries back in their carry-ons. They get McDonald’s for breakfast, but only because Starbucks coffee is too expensive, and the food isn’t even that good, and the line is always too long. Even though Nursey would definitely rather have Starbucks.

 

They also get two Big-Macs, two things of fries, and a thing of chicken nuggets for lunch during the plane ride. 

 

As soon as they arrive at the gate, they begin boarding, and so the two of them get on board when their group is called.

 

The flight is fairly uneventful. They have movie selections because it’s a newer plane, so both Dex and Nursey decide to watch  _ The Force Awakens _ . They snack on the fries throughout the entire flight and only get into the other food toward the middle of the flight.

 

It’s actually pretty chill until they land, because they can’t find Nursey’s luggage in baggage claim, even though the entire flight’s luggage has already gone through.

 

“Dude, I swear to God, it’s gone through the whole flight. My luggage isn’t here.”

 

“I told you we should’ve gotten here sooner! This is what happens when you have to go to the bathroom as soon as you land.” Dex groans and slumps into a chair.

 

“Oh, so you’re blaming me now?” Nursey scowls.

 

He stands up, all up in Nursey’s face. “Yes, I’m blaming you! Whose fault is it that we stopped to go to the bathroom? Yours!” He shakes his head. “You’re so--you’re so irresponsible!”

 

“And you’re the responsible one, right? You know where everything is exactly when you need it. You’re just so good at--”

 

But he’s cut off by a loud “Shut up!” Only it didn’t come from Dex. It comes from Chowder.

 

“I have your luggage!” he interrupts. “You guys are gonna kill each other next year.”

 

Both Nursey and Dex are left with their mouths gaping as they stare at Chowder and Farmer standing before them.

 

“Sorry, C,” Nursey replies sheepishly.

 

“Yeah, sorry.”

 

Chowder shakes his head and pulls them both in for a group hug before leading them to his car. After getting in, they start driving toward Chowder’s house.

 

All Nursey could think is that this is going to be a long trip.


	2. Chapter 2

Chowder’s parents are pretty chill. The don’t quite ignore their kid for the most part and throw money at him to make him happy, like Nursey’s parents, but at least they’re not overbearing, like Dex’s. It’s a perfect balance of ignoring and paying attention.

 

While he’s giving the grand tour of the house, Dex is poking Nursey to rile him up, and Nursey, being the saint he is, doesn’t say a word until about the twentieth poke.

 

“I swear, Poindexter, poke me one more time--”

 

Chowder clears his throat. “You guys are sleeping here! I figured you two could switch off between bed and air mattress, but it’s up to you!”

 

Dinner is nice, but it’s not like Nursey or Dex were expecting anything terrible. Dinner talk is minimal, outside of talks of the future, of college, and of hockey. Apparently being mildly invested in your child’s life doesn’t mean that you know how to talk to them or their friends.

 

After dinner, all four of them head up to Chowder’s room and hang out. They stay up late, planning the next day, playing Mario Kart, talking about things going on in their lives, until all of them get too tired and fall asleep.

 

Waking up is only an ordeal because Nursey’s head is resting on Dex’s shoulder, and Chowder and Farmer are both lying on their stomachs with their controller still in hand.

Nursey is awake, but he tries to pretend to be asleep so Dex doesn’t hit him. Or yell at him. Or something. Nursey’s really not sure what Dex’ll do, but he’s certainly surprised by the soft chuckle and the mumbled “weirdo” that both come out of Dex’s mouth when he stirs awake.

 

Nursey fakes a confused “huh” and sits up, rubbing his eyes. “Oh, I guess we fell asleep.”

 

“Yeah,” Dex agrees softly. “C’mon. Let’s get ready so we can explore the city.”

 

Nursey groans and mumbles out, “Carry me.”

 

“Get your lazy ass up.” Dex giggles--fucking giggles.

 

“Who are you and what have you done with William J. Poindexter?” Nursey asks as Dex pulls him by his hands. “Thanks, bro.”

 

“Dunno. I like this city. Guess it’s putting me in a good mood.” He grins mischievously. “Also, I totally beat your ass at Mario Kart.”

 

Nursey playfully pushes him. “Fuck off, did not.” 

 

After getting ready, the two of them head downstairs together. Chowder and Farmer are already eating breakfast at the table, and Nursey can’t help but notice the soft aroma of coffee wafting through the air.

 

“Look, Nurse, it’s your bean juice.” Dex points to the coffee maker.

 

“Leaf juice-drinker,” Nursey retaliates, sticking out his tongue.

 

“Correction: flower juice-drinker.” He smirks. “If you’re gonna chirp me, do it right.”

 

“Damn, Poindexter’s on a roll this morning!” Nursey pats Chowder on the back. “You hear this kid? Chirping me left and right!”

 

And it’s like that the whole time. Vaguely flirty? Chirps throughout the day as they explore the city. They go to Pier 39 on Fisherman’s Warf, and the Ghirardelli Factory, and Alcatraz, and sure, Chowder’s been to all of these a million times, but it’s fun.

 

The next day, Chowder shows them around Chinatown, and they all go to get Dim Sum (“Look it’s a double date!” “Shut up, Nursey.”). But really, it’s not all that bad.

 

Nursey begs and begs to go to the Castro District because he’s super into history stuff, as he claims (but really, it’s because his moms asked him to go).

 

So, there they are, at ten p.m., in the middle of the gay district in San Francisco. Nursey expected Dex to complain the entire time, but he doesn’t. Dex is actually pretty excited.

 

Some drunk guys come crawling out of a bar, holding hands, begin shouting and waving about the “baby fags,” in reference to the four of them. And Dex doesn’t even make a comment that only Nursey should really be included in that term, so Nursey’s having a pretty good day.

 

When they call a cab home, Dex ends up falling asleep on the way back to Chowder’s, so Nursey’s tasked with carrying him in.

 

“Hey, dude.” He pokes Dex on the cheek. “Wake up.”

 

Because Dex merely groans, Nursey opts for carrying him in instead of making him wake up first. The cab driver has a life, after all--can’t wait on sleepy college kids to get out of the car forever.

 

When they’re about to enter the front door, Dex mumbles sleepily, “My knight in shining armor.”

 

“What was that?”

 

“You’re carryin’ me through the threshold, like we’re married, or somethin’.” At least, Nursey thinks that’s what Dex says. He honestly has no idea because Dex’s speech is slurred with exhaustion.

 

But still, Nursey’s heart is pounding again. He can feel it in his chest, on his wrists, on his neck. His heart is pulsing throughout his body and pumping loudly in order to tell Nursey about big, heavy feelings that he’s gonna have to deal with sooner or later. And with Dex cuddled into his chest, it’s certainly not helping--not helping his heart skipping beats, not helping his sweaty palms, and certainly not helping the breath catching in his throat.

 

“Yeah, sure dude.”

  
He puts Dex on the bed and decides to take the air mattress. While he’s lying there in the dark, he realizes that he’s never thought the word “fuck” so many times repeatedly in his life before.


	3. Chapter 3

The next week, Chowder, Farmer, Nursey, and Dex all drive down to all the theme parks for three days (though… not Sea World. Chowder seems to have a vendetta against Sea World--and like, he would know where to go--he lives in California). They go to Universal, and Disneyland, and Knott’s, and Nursey doesn’t think he’s seen Dex laugh and scream so much in his entire life.

 

Disneyland was probably the best one they went to, simply because all the childlike innocence of characters and themed attractions are right next to some of the faster rides. There’s an infinite number of sweets (especially churros), and they probably break their banks getting food, but it’s still fun. (Plus, Dex is, like, the biggest fan of Star Wars, and he practically lost his shit when they went to Tomorrowland.)

 

When all four of them get off one of the rides (it’s a water ride, and they’re soaking wet), Dex is giggling and jumping around like a kid in a candy shop. He latches onto Nursey’s shoulders and demands that they head to Tower of Terror.

 

“Where’s that, C?”

 

Chowder nods excitedly. “I mean, we could go past Carsland, or we could go past that area where they used to have Aladdin shows--”

 

“How ‘bout you lead the way, babe?” Farmer suggests.

 

As they’re waiting in line, Dex is eating a Mickey-shaped ice cream bar, and Nursey’s complaining that he wanted one if they all would’ve just waited--

 

“Here, take a bite.” Dex offers it to him. And it doesn’t seem like he gives him a bite just to get him to shut the hell up. Dex is smiling when he gets it back, and it’s not even the fake smiling--it’s genuine and soft and sweet.

 

“Oh.” (Nursey just about loses his shit because holy shit he doesn’t think that Dex has ever looked that cute.)

 

On the ride, it doesn’t get much better. During one particularly nasty drop, Dex’s hand immediately snaps onto Nursey’s, grabbing hold as tightly as he can.

 

Only when they get off do they realize that they were holding hands because the picture the ride snaps randomly is there as photographic evidence that they were certifiably touching. And it’s whatever. It’s something they ignore, and Dex keeps blushing about.

 

When they get back to the hotel room, Nursey and Dex cuddle in bed together watching tv while Chowder and Farmer spoon, asleep after a long day. Neither of them comment on the fact that they’re cuddling, because that would be unchill and awkward, but they’re definitely closer than what Nursey’s normally comfortable with, especially with someone he thinks  _ might _ be straight (though who knows at this point--there’s a definite emphasis on might).

 

When they turn all the lights off and shut off the tv, they’re staring at each other in the king sized bed. Dex sighs, and Nursey can feel his breath tingle his nose.

 

“Night,” Dex whispers.

 

And it’s all quiet. Nursey considers pressing a soft kiss to Dex’s nose, but he ultimately decides against it. He doesn’t want to fuck anything up--as though he’s convinced things will get fucked up if he does anything.

 

Of course, unbeknownst to Nursey, Dex is thinking the same thing--if I kiss him, everything will be fucked up--but that’s besides the point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took so long!! I had tech week for my school's musical and like I got no sleep lol
> 
> I might have to finish this after I'm done taking all my AP tests bc I've got 2 coming up this week (pls kill me)
> 
> Anyway thank you so much for reading this it means a lot!!

**Author's Note:**

> this is the most shameless fic i've ever written 90% of it consists of things that happened to me/things i wish would happen to me lol (the other 10% is pining and angst)
> 
> lmk what you think but i'm having fun writing this so far
> 
> title's from "Make Out" by Julia Nunes


End file.
